kilderkin

American  

[kil-der-kin] / ˈkɪl dər kɪn /

noun

1. a unit of capacity, usually equal to half a barrel or two firkins.

2. an English unit of capacity, equal to 18 imperial gallons (82 liters).

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kilderkin British  

/ ˈkɪldəkɪn /

noun

1. an obsolete unit of liquid capacity equal to 16 or 18 Imperial gallons or of dry capacity equal to 16 or 18 wine gallons

2. a cask capable of holding a kilderkin

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Etymology

Origin of kilderkin

1350–1400; Middle English, dissimilated variant of kinderkin < Middle Dutch, equivalent to kinder (≪ Arabic qinṭār quintal ) + -kin -kin

Example Sentences

A tun of man in thy large bulk is writ, But sure thou art but a kilderkin of wit.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 58, Number 358, August 1845 by Various

Hear'st thou, dough-belly! because thou talk'st and talk'st, and dar'st not drink to me a black jack, wilt thou give me leave to broach this little kilderkin of my corpse against thy back?

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew

His enormous legs seemed calculated by nature to embrace the body of his charger, and he sat erect like an overgrown Bacchus bestriding a kilderkin of beer.

From Tales from "Blackwood," Volume 2 by Various

Whether in any foreign market, twopence advance in a kilderkin of corn could greatly affect our trade?

From Querist by Berkeley, George

What worms do another day, I care not, but I'll be sworn upon a whole kilderkin of single beer, I will not have a worm-eaten nose, like a pursuivant, while I live.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 8 by Hazlitt, William Carew